BANANA

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Introduction

Banana, one of the earliest crops cultivated by man, remains to be one of the mostimportant fruit crops, especially of the tropics. The term ‘banana’ was introduced fromthe Guinea Coast of West Africa by the Portuguese, while the term ‘plantain’ (forcooking bananas) was derived from ‘plantano’ of the Spaniards (Purseglove, 1975). Butgenerally the term “banana” includes all edible varieties eaten as ripe fruits or as cookedfood. The earliest reference to banana is found in the Hindu classics. A picturesquedescription of the banana plantation around the green bower of “Valmiki Maharshi” isgiven in the “Ramayana”. The generic name of banana –Musa was derived from theArabic word ‘Mouxh”. Presumably bananas were known to the Arabs from very earlytimes and it appears in ‘Holy Khoran’ as the ‘tree of paradise” – which is equivalent tothe “tree of knowledge” of Christian tradition. Accordingly, the specific name was givenas “paradisiacal”. In Plenius’s Historia Naluralis”, banana is mentioned as the major itemof food of Indian sages. The great historian Disraeli mentioned banana as the mostdelicious thing in the world.

Bananas were called “figa” in Europe in the 10th century A.D. and it is still so inthe West Indies (Purseglave, 1975). In India, banana is commonly called as “Kela” in thenorthern states. In South India it is called ‘Arati’ or ‘Anati’ in Andhra Pradesh. ‘Bale’ inKarnataka. ‘Vazhai’ in Tamil Nadu and ‘Vazha’ in Kerala. In the Sanskrit literature it isoften referred to as ‘Kadali’ or ‘Rambha’. Economic Importance

The importance of dessert and cooking bananas can hardly be exaggerated. Theyplay a major role as a complementary food in the local diets. The food value of bananashas been appreciated for a very long time and continuous efforts are being made tobroaden and extend the form in which bananas are utilized. One or the other part of theplant is used on all auspicious occasions such as wedding, festivals, ceremonies of allsorts and even for worship in India. Banana provides a more balanced diet than manyother fruits. On unit area basis, banana produces about fifteen times more energy thanwheat. The annual per capita consumption of banana is about 60 kg in Brazil and CostaRica while it is 50 kg in India. In some of the African countries it, goes up to 275 kg,rising to the status of a staple food and largely replaces the consumption of cereals.

Banana is one of the rare fruits which satisfy the definition of a good food i.e., onethat contains an ample proportion of nutritive constituents which are easily digested andabsorbed, while available at reasonable cost. It is one of the most easily assimilated fruits.From the nutritional point of view, banana has a calorific value ranging from 67 to 137calories per 100 g and is closely comparable with potatoes but digested more easily. It isrelatively cheap. The average composition of banana fruit is as follows according toGopalan et al. (1980).Moisture70.0%Phosphorus290.0 ppmCarbohydrate27.0%Calcium80.0 ppmCrude fibre0.5%Iron6.0 ppmProtein1.2%Carotene0.5 ppmFat0.3%Riboflavin 0.5 ppmAsh0.9%Niacin7 ppmAscorbic acid 120.0 ppmThere are traces of potassium, copper, iodine, manganese, magnesium, sodium, zinc andcobalt as well.

Besides the use of fruits for dessert and culinary purposes, ripe fruits of somecultivars like ‘Nendran’ (French Plantain) are used as a favourite breakfast item aftersteaming in South India and in Latin America. ‘Nendran’ is also preferred for preparingsweets, halwa and chips. Chips making has already developed into a small scale industryin the Kerala state. There is great potential for this to be developed further, exploiting theinternal and fast increasing external demand. Sweets made of slices of mature fruitsteamed and dipped in spiced jaggery emalsion or sugar syrup is delicious and keep forlong. Chips made by frying mature fruit slices in edible oil after dipping in brine are agood snack. Banana figs, which are sundried slices of the fruit with fig like consistency,are commonly prepared in many countries. The fully ripened ‘Nendran’ fruits are sundried, preserved and used in Kerala. The ‘Kunnan’ and ‘Nendran’ varieties are ideally suited for preparing baby foods.The possibility of utilizing other high yielding varieties of banana for the purpose needsto be explored. Banana flour made into and diluted with milk is a good food for babies,invalids and patients suffering from gastritis. Banana ash is highly alkaline and thereforecan check acidity in stomach and bowel, heart burn and colic. Regular use of sweet andaonatic fruits of ‘Anbalakaiali’ – a classic variety grown in South India is said to cureeven bad intestinal ulcers. Ayurvedic preparations are made from ripe banana fruits,central core and male bud.

Banana fruits and other parts of the plant are useful in one way or other. Thecentral core of the pseudostem and the male bud (heart) are commonly utilized asvegetables in South India and also in the African and South – East Asian countries. Theyform a good subsidiary food material when cooked and mixed with salt and masala.Besides providing a food containing easily digestible starch, they are also said tocounteract the ill effects of stones, hair etc. consumed accidentally with food. Hence theyform the best food for patients suffering from intestinal ulcer. Aqueous extract of thecentral core of the stem when consumed regularly can check and cure liver and kidneyailments. The physicians of naturopathy effectively utilize this extract against many suchdiseases. In the African countries, the extract is taken by mothers to improve lactation.Starch is manufactured from the pseudostem. About 8 per cent starch can be extractedfrom it. Rhizomes of small suckers, particularly of ‘Nendran’ variety is consumed in partsof Kerala after slicing in culinary preparations. With the growing awareness on themedicinal properties of banana rhizome and plant parts, all our efforts must be made topopularize these efficient food materials which are easily available in plenty, free of costor at nominal cost. Undoubtedly, this will help our masses a lot from the nutritional,health and economic points of view.

Chopped banana rhizome, pseudostem, green leaves, peduncle, poor quality fruitsand fruit peelings have great potential as cattle feed. As a source of cheap and readilyavailable roughage, these items are of immense utility in the high concentrate ration oflivestock. Chopped rhizomes and pseudostem are fed to cattle after steaming, particularlyfor those troubled by kidney worms. The juice from the pseudostem can be used to prepare dyes as it possess theproperty of a permanent stain. The pseudostem of banana can be used for manufacturingpaperboards. Banana leaves are very popular in South India and Africa as prestigiousdinner plates, wrapping material and even at temporary umbrellas. All the plant parts canbe used as efficient mulching materials. The dried leaf sheaths and petioles are used formaking crude ropes, tying materials, screens, circular pads for carrying head loads and asa thatching material.

Banana yields good fibre too, species such as Musa textiles are well known fortheir good quality fibre. Cultivated species of banana as well’ have a high potential in thisregard. Fibre, paper, rough cordages etc. have got great commercial possibilities assubsidiary items.Merits as crop

As a crop, banana has various factors of added significance to us. To the Keralite,the term ‘fruits’ is rather a synonym to ‘banana’ and is liked by one and all, availableround the year at a reasonable cost. This semi-perennial fruit vegetable food crop cangrow well in a variety of situations under a wide range of soil and agro-climaticconditions. Adapted varieties are available for cultivation under open and shadedconditions as well as for rainfed and irrigate planting. It can well be fitted in croprotations, multiple cropping, intercropping, relay cropping and even in companioncropping. Since the crop combines well with our major perennial crops like coconut,arecanut, rubber (early stage) etc. the key role of the crop in the economy of the Stateneeds no emphasis. Banana is often grown as a shade cum nurse crop in coffee, tea,cocoa, pepper and rubber plantations, especially in the early stage.

Homestead farming is unique to the State of Kerala and banana constitutes anintegral part of these homesteads. Adaptation of a large number of varieties of banana toratooning is of great practical utility both in the homestead system of cultivation and incommercial farming. Multitude of varieties of choice to the grower and consumer areavailable. To an extent, the plant and its products form a part of the Indian culture andtradition. FRUIT CROPSA. TROPICAL AND SUB-TROPICAL FRUITSBanana : Banana (Musa paradisiacal L.) occupies over 1,64,000 hectares, mainly inTamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Assam, AndhraPradesh and Bihar. Though some inferior types of banana are found growing as far northas the Himalayas, its commercial importance is mainly limited to the more tropicalconditions, such as those prevailing in central, southern and north-eastern India. It is amoisture and heat-loving plant and cannot tolerate frost or arid conditions. VARIETIES : Cultivated varieties are broadly divided into two groups : table andculinary. Among the former are ‘Poovan’ in Madras (also known as ‘KarpuraChakkare-keli’ in Andhra Pradesh); ‘Mortaman’, ‘Champa’ and ‘Amrit Sagar’ in WestBengal; ‘Basrai’, ‘Safed Velchi’, Lal Velchi’ and ‘Rajeli’ in Maharashtra; ‘Champa’ and‘Mortaman’ in Assam and Orissa; and ‘Rastali’, ‘Sirumalai’, ‘Chakkarekeli’, ‘NeyPoorvan’, ’Kadali’ and ‘Pacha Nadan’ in southern India. ‘Basrai’, which is known underdifferent names, viz., ‘Mauritius’, ‘Vamankeli’, ‘Cavendish’, ‘Governor’, ‘Harichal’, isalso grown in central and southern India. Recently, the ‘Robusta’ variety is gainingpopularity in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The ‘Virupakshi’ variety (Hill banana) is themost predominant variety in the Palni Hlls of Tamil Nadu. Among the culinary varieties,Nendran bananas, ‘Monthan’, ‘Myndoli’ and ‘Pacha Montha Bathis’ are the leadingcommercial varieties in southern India, ‘Gros Michel’ is a recent introduction intosouthern India; it is suitable for cultivation only under garden-land conditions and isgenerally fastidious in its cultural requirements. It is not, therefore, in favour with thecultivators. PROPAGATION AND PLANTING Propagation is by suckers or off-shoots which spring at the base of a banana-tree fromunderground rhizomes. Vigorous suck, with stout base, tapering towards the top andpossessing narrow leaves, are selected for planting. Each sucker should have a piece ofunderground stem with a few roots attached to it.Banana suckers can be planted throughout the year in southern India, except duringsummer, whereas in the rest of the country, the rainy season is preferred. They are plantedin small pits, each just enough to accommodate the base of a sucker. The plantingdistance varies from 2 m x 2 m in the case of dwarf varieties to 4 m x 4 m in the case ofvery tall varieties. MANURING : An application of 20 to 25 kg of farm yard manure, together with about 5kg of wood-ashes per plant is given at planting time. In southern India, ammoniumsulphate is applied one month, five months and nine months after planting at 20 kg per haeach time. In western India, a little over 2 kg of oilcake per stool is applied during thefirst three months after planting. A complete fertilizer mixture may be applied to supply100 to 200 kg of N, 100 to 200 kg of P2O5 and 200 to 400 kg of K2O per ha. Agreen-manure crop is also considered beneficial. Trials at the Indian Institute ofHorticultural Research have shown that for the ‘Robusta’ variety, a fertilizer mixturecomprising 180 g of N + 108 g of P2O5 + 225 g of K2O per plant is ideal.AFTER CARE : The removal of suckers, dry leaves and pseudostems, from which thefruits have been harvested, constitute the main after care. Daughter suckers should beremoved promptly until the mother-plant flowers, when one daughter sucker may beallowed to take its place. The removal of dry leaves and useless pseudostems requires tobe done in time. After all the fruits are formed, the pendant portion of the remaininginflorescence along with the heart should be removed.

The propping of plants with bamboo poles, especially those which have thrownout bunches, is necessary wherever damage by wind is apprehended. Where the winddamage is recurring, dwarf varieties should be preferred. IRRIGATION : The banana-plants require very heavy irrigation. Irrigation is given inmost places once in seven to ten days. Stagnation of water in the soil is not very congenialto the proper growth of banana and, hence, the drainage of soil is also essential.HARVESTING : Early varieties commence flowering in southern and western Indiaabout seven months after planting, and the fruits take about three months more to ripen.In the Andhra Pradesh delta areas, the fruits are ready for harvesting about seven to eightmonths after planting. The first crop of the ‘Poovan’ variety matures in 12 to 14 monthsand the second in 21 to 24 months after planting. In other parts of India, the first crop isusually gathered a year after planting, whereas the succeeding crop may be ready in six toten months thereafter. The bunch is harvested just before it attains the ripening stage. When the fruitshave reached the full size, they become plump, and mature with a distinct change incolour. For long transport, the bunch may be harvested somewhat earlier. The bunch iscut retaining about 15 cm of the stem above the first hand. The yield varies considerablyfrom 26,000 to 55,000 kg per ha. CURING AND MARKETING: The ripening of banana is done in several ways, eg.Exposing the bunches to the sun, placing them over a hearth, wrapping them up in greenleaves and piling them in a heap, storing them in closed god owns or smoking them invarious ways. One of the common ways is to heap the fruits in a room and cover themwith leaves, after which fire is lit in a corner and the room is closed and made as air-tightas possible. Ripening takes place usually in 30 to 48 hours. In a cool store, the bunchesripen well at about 15° to 20°C. The application of Vaseline, a layer of clay or coal-tar tothe cut-ends of the stalks prevents rotting during ripening and storage. Wrapping up the fruits and packing them in crates help to reduce the damage duringtransport. POST HARVEST HANDLING, STORAGE, PROCESING AND BYPRODUCTUTILIZATION

Banana is an easily perishable fruit. During peak seasons of production. There isglut in the market and fanners do not get remunerative price. In this homesteads, bananais cultivated mainly for the consumption of the family as vegetable/fruit. The problem ofpost harvest handling, storage and transport crisis mainly in commercial cultivation. It is'noted generally that running transporting, damage occurs to the banana bunches. Further,the bulky nature of the bunch, often with loosely packed fingers and sort nature of the,little, create problems in hall. As such efficient and economic methods lacking greenfruits as well as fruits which have started ripening and ripe fruits are to be revised so thatdamage is avoided/reduced to the barest minimum during handling and transport. Bananato the Keralite, as elsewhere is a vegetable as well as a fruit appall t from hang used forthe preparation of various products. For the vegetables types it, will be desirable if thegreenness could be prolonged, without being rip:'l1ed to the extent possible whereas inthe case of dessert types Mol, shelf life after ripening will be advantageous. In the case ofhome consumption, instead of ripening a bunch at a stretch as usual. a slow ripening, SJthat the entire bunch is ripened] a period of time is on ripening and keeping quality withthese objectives in mind will be regarding. Utilizing banana in the form of differentproducts in small and commercial scales need to be stressed with special reference to thatfact that banana is expected generally as a subsidiary food crop. However to make bananaa commercial crop to the possible extent investigations on post harvest handling of freshfruits, ripe fruits, storage and the preparation of the various products now in vogues andthe development of new products have to be seriously considered. Nend J a71 chips andother products and flour are of special mention at present in the Kerala context. Furtherthe effective utilization of other items such as the male bud} central core (Pindi),rhizome, pseudostem, leaves etc. in a manner conducive of our Socio-economicconditions, linking with our agro system has to be emphasized. The male bud central core(of the inflorescence) and the rhizome of young suckers are being used as vegetable. Theuse of the central core in Naturopathy is well known. The fiber extracted from the bananapseudostem can be utilized in a variety of ways and its potential, appears to be enormous.The banana leaf, generally used as a precious plate, Especially on auspicious occasions, isanother valuable part, which is also liable to damage during collection and transport. Anymeans and Plethacs to reduce its breakage and damage and to improve keeping quality isworthy of consideration.In the context of the above points, the studies S0 far conducted on banana with referenceto post harvest handling, processing and byproduct utilization in Kerala will provide abas," for the correct orientation of future lines of work. The work done could be for thesake of convenience categorized.Handling of fresh fruits

It is a common experience that the banana fruits obtained from the market isseldom free from damage. To a farmer with a bumber crop the problem of its handlingand transport to the market in its original form is a difficult task, often expensive. Theways and means for easy and cheap methods of stacking and transport needs no specialmention. Whatever means of transport is adopted, it is most important that the fruitshould be gently handled and kept as cool as possible. Head pods made of wads of bananatrash are commonly used in Jamaica sponge rubber head and shoulder pads are used inCentral America. Stacking points, carts Lorries and railway trucks are lined with agenerous blanket of banana trash; layers of bunches are interspersed with trash. There are,broadly, four means of preparation of bunches for long distance transport, Na’1lely; thebunches being shipped naked; the use of plastic covering; the enclosure of the bunch in apaper or straw parcel; and the packing of the fruit in boxes or cases. In India the produceis mostly carried by rail and little or no attempt is made to control the temperature ofcarriage. Refrigerated transport methods may be desira ble for the safe transport of thefruits to long distances.

Philip and Aravindakshan (1979) conducted studies on the post harvestapplication of certain growth regulating substances like 2,4,5-T, 2,4-D, IAA and NAA onfruit quality of the banana cultivar 'Palayankodan'. The study revealed significantvariation among the treatments with regard to the quality indices like loss in weight onripening, TSS acidity, TSS/acid ratio, total sugars, reducing sugars and sugar lacid ratio.Significant variations with regard to the above quality indices among the fruits of the firstfour hands and the succeeding four hands of the same bunch were also noticed. Treat-ments with 100 ppm IAA, 40 ppm and 60 ppm 2, 40 were found to increase acidity,ascorbic acid and sugar content significantly over the control. TSS was significantlyhigher in treatments with 40 ppm 2,4,5- T, 100 ppm NAA and 100 ppm IAA, whereas thetreatments with 2,4, 5- Tat 60 ppm, NAA at 50 ppm, 2,4-0 at 20 ppm and IAA at 100ppm were found to be effective in reducing the acidity significantly over the control. IAAat 100 ppm and 2,4-0 at 60 ppm increased sugar/acid ratio significantly. The TSS, acidratio was found to be influenced significantly by the growth regulator treatments.

The effect of pre and post harvest treatments on storage and quality of banana cv.Nendran was studied by Aravindakshan (1981). Pre harvest spraying of Ethrel 4CO ppm,2,4-D 10 ppm and NAA 50 ppm proponed the harvesting of banana by 20 days and thisresulted in better quality fruits.

The study revealed that ripe fruits for immediate use can be obtained within 3days of harvest by smoke treatment for 24 hours and then storing in open. 'The quality ofthe fruits were found to be better under smoke treatment arid open storage as compared tofruits in polythene bags with or without K MNO2, in appearance of the ripened fruits wasbest in polythene bag storage. The storage life of the fruits could be prolonged by 10 daysby storing under polythene + K MnO4 at ordinary room temperature. In polythene bags,six days longer shelf life could be obtained. Anthracol at 0.05 per cent and 0.1% Bavistin500 ppm and 1000 ppm, Thiride 0.1 per cent and 0.2 per cent were equally effective inreducing anthracnose incidence in banana fruits stored in polythene bags and in open, themaximum reduction being resulted by Bavistin 1000 ppm. Pre harvest spray or postharvest dipping of fungicides reduced the incidence of black spot caused byGloeosporium musarum. Smoke treated fruits were found to have high incidence ofanthracnose and fruits stored in polythene bags + K MnO4 were found to have the leastincidence of the disease.

The effect of Waxol (fungicidal wax emulsion) on the shelf life of Nendranbanana fruits was studied and the results revealed that the storage life could be increasedby treating the fruits with 4% Waxol.

A comparative evaluation of different methods of ripening was conducted at theDepartment of Processing Technology, College of Horticul ture, Vellanikkara, Among thevarious local methods tried, banana packed in cartons with paddy straw started ripeningearly. It was found that irres pective of treatments, the percentage acidity after ripeningremained more or less the same.

For the culinary varieties, it will be of great advantage if the fresh green stage ofthe fruit can be prolonged by delaying the ripening. Studies in this aspect are yet to beundertaken.Processing

At a very rough computation, nearly half the bananas of the world are eaten rawand ripe, nearly half arc eaten as a cooked vegetable and the remainder (an almostnegligibly small proportion of the whole) are used for processing into various products. A survey was undertaken (Prema and Chellammal, 1986) in Trivan drum district to findout how the banana fruit is being utilized by the farm families. The survey revealed that26 per cent of the families use Nendran fruits and 32 per cent use other varieties ofbanana, 3 days in a week. ,Out of the 200 families, 78 per cent of the families use

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BANANA

Banana, one of the earliest crops cultivated by man, remains to be one of the most
important fruit crops, especially of the tropics. The term ‘banana’ was introduced from
the Guinea Coast of West Africa by the Portuguese, while the term ‘plantain’ (for
cooking bananas) was derived from ‘plantano’ of the Spaniards (Purseglove, 1975). But
generally the term “banana” includes all edible varieties eaten as ripe fruits or as cooked
food. The earliest reference to banana is found in the Hindu classics. A picturesque
description of the banana plantation around the green bower of “Valmiki Maharshi” is
given in the “Ramayana”. The generic name of banana –Musa was derived from the
Arabic word ‘Mouxh”. Presumably bananas were known to the Arabs from very early
times and it appears in ‘Holy Khoran’ as the ‘tree of paradise” – which is equivalent to
the “tree of knowledge” of Christian tradition. Accordingly, the specific name was given
as “paradisiacal”. In Plenius’s Historia Naluralis”, banana is mentioned as the major item
of food of Indian sages. The great historian Disraeli mentioned banana as the most
delicious thing in the world.

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